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  I pulled out a stool from the prep table and told her to sit while I checked on the soup. It was still warm but I cranked up the burner a bit anyway. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” I asked. “It’s usually pretty good.”

  She nodded shyly and I fetched her a mug from the mess deck. By then the soup was hot enough to eat and I served a bowl for each of us and found the basket of biscuits left from lunch. I saw her eyeing the tray of meats and cheeses as well and I dragged that over to our makeshift picnic on the prep table. She seemed hesitant as if she needed to ask for permission. “Dig in. We’re all family here,” I said as enthusiastically as I could.

  She split a biscuit and made a meat and cheese sandwich out of it before diving into the soup. I also took a cup and the potage was very good. I realized that I was hungry myself. Silence settled around us as we each gave our bowls some serious attention. At first she ate slowly and a bit shyly, but as the warm soup, fresh biscuits, and hot coffee worked their magic, she became less reticent. I took a look at her—a really good look—and realized that lunch was not the only meal she had missed recently.

  “You can always get something to eat here,” I told her conversationally. “Day or night. You don’t have to wait until meal times. That cooler is for watch standers.” I tossed my head in the direction of the stainless steel door. “There’s always a tray of meats and cheeses there. We usually put out some sweet things, too, like pies and pastries. It’s available all the time.”

  She eyed the appliance, looked at me, and said very softly, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” I told her just as softly. After a minute I added, “You’re safe here.” I don’t know why I said it, but I did so while concentrating on scraping the last bit of soup out of my bowl with the end of a biscuit. I popped it into my mouth without looking at her.

  We finished our lunch and cleaned off the prep table around 14:30. “Come on. We need to get you settled and your bunk made up.” For the next stan I showed her where to get the linens, how to get a fresh shipsuit, and how to make up the upper bunk without having to crawl all the way up into it to get the corners even. At 15:00 we visited Mr. von Ickles and got her set up with her tablet and credentials, then I gave her a quick tour of the gym and sauna. “When I first arrived, Pip didn’t tell me for weeks that there was a gym here. I didn’t want you to have to find out about it the way I did.”

  “This is amazing! I had no idea there would be anything like this aboard.”

  “Oh, it’s not all peaches and cream. Wait until we get a suit drill in the middle of the night. That’s never a good way to wake up out of a sound sleep.”

  By then it was almost 16:00 and we headed back to the galley to prep for dinner.

  “I thought you were leaving the mess deck,” she said as I showed her around the pantries.

  “I am. But I have to wait for Pip to come back from liberty. When he does, I can hand the watch over to him and then I’m free to go. It’s okay. Tomorrow, I’ll be in environmental trying to learn what I’m supposed to do down there.”

  She nodded. “So in the mean time you’re stuck with me?”

  I shook my head. “Nope, it just means for a few more stans I have some clue about how to do stuff. You’re just the icing on the cake,” I said reassuringly.

  Cookie bustled in and we started the evening prep. The menu included marinated lamb and some fresh greens from planet-side. I showed Sarah the basic setup for the dinner routine while docked and she took to it right away.

  “It won’t be this easy when we get underway,” I told her. “But Pip and Cookie are good to work with.”

  To no great surprise, Cookie’s prediction about the dinner turnout proved to be correct. I think half the crew showed up that night.

  Chapter 7

  ST. CLOUD ORBITAL

  2253-FEBRUARY-20

  Sarah and I had just finished dinner cleanup when Pip burst into the galley. He skidded to a stop when he saw Sarah. I do not recall ever seeing Pip so surprised before.

  “Sarah Krugg, this is Philip Carstairs, but everyone calls him Pip. Pip, this is Sarah Krugg, the new mess deck attendant.”

  Pip held out his hand and I took it as a good sign that Sarah did not flinch. We were making progress it seemed. “Hi, Sarah, welcome aboard!”

  She gave his hand the press-and-release motion and said, “Yes, I snore, but not too loudly.”

  Pip shot a dirty look in my direction but I just continued putting away the broom and pretended not to notice.

  “Sarah’s in the bunk over Bev now,” I told him. “Sarah, you should know that this guy is across from you in the other upper.”

  A wary expression crossed her face and I mentally kicked myself. “He doesn’t snore—much,” I added.

  Pip caught the exchange and I could see he realized things were a bit odd. I gave him a little shrug while Sarah’s attention was on him.

  Pip put on his friendliest smile and said, “That’ll work out great. The schmuck that used to have that bunk would snore like a chainsaw. I don’t think I’ve gotten a decent night’s sleep since Neris.” Pip tried to appear innocent.

  Sarah’s eyes moved back and forth between us a couple of times and then she seemed to relax a little. She frowned in curiosity. “Whose bunk was it?”

  Pip nodded in my direction and winked.

  “Oh, is this the bunk with Tabitha on the other side?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, that’s how I know it’s a good bunk. The mattress has hardly any lumps.”

  For a heartbeat or two, I was not sure how the conversation was going to go. Sarah just stood there, kind of closed off again. Pip kept looking from me to her and back again, but thankfully, he did not say anything.

  Finally, whatever she was thinking sorted itself out and she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Good,” she pronounced with a little nod of her head.

  “How’d it go in the booth, Pip?” I asked to get his attention. “Do you want some supper?”

  “Yeah, I could use a sandwich or something. It’s been a long time since lunch. And we have some stuff to take care of yet.”

  I pulled out the meat and cheese tray and said to Sarah, “There’s some darberry pie in here, if you’re interested. If you leave it, Pip will just eat it.”

  Pip came and glanced over my shoulder. “There’s enough for both of us. Don’t be chintzy with Cookie’s pies, Ish.”

  “Well, if you’re sure it’s not a problem…” Sarah began.

  I pulled food out of the cooler, and Pip started making a sandwich while I rummaged up a couple of plates for pie. “So, you were going to tell me about the booth, Pip?”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said with a mouth full of sandwich. “I sold another fifty of the stones this morning before I packed them away. Biddy was doing well with the consignments. We should have a settlement for the co-op by tomorrow. We dragged the grav-pallet back and started stowing stuff, but you won’t believe how much twenty kilos of yarn really is.”

  I slid a plate with a big wedge of pie on it over to Sarah while he was talking. “Eat up, Sarah,” I told her. “Pip will go on like this for some time.”

  She smiled shyly and started eating while Pip picked up the story.

  “I talked to the dye people, and they were nice. I do see what you mean about the packets of dye though. I bought about a dozen each of black, red, and purple. They were cheap and massed almost nothing. Maybe they’ll sell or maybe next trip we’ll pick up some uncolored yarn and do it ourselves.”

  I went and got coffee for Sarah, Pip, and myself and slid the mugs onto the counter.

  “Did you get any more of those statues?” I asked.

  “No, I never found the guy, but I did come across Bresheu. That really was something to see.”

  “Did you buy anything?” I asked curiously.

  “Nope. I looked through the racks for a while, but nothing grabbed me. It did seem like good quality, though.”

  He finished his sandwi
ch, made short work of the pie, and washed it all down with the coffee. “So, Sarah,” he said while nodding toward me, “how’s he been treating you?”

  She lowered her eyes and said, “It’s been a very good afternoon.”

  “I even showed her the gym,” I told him. “She won’t have to discover it on her own—in four or five weeks!”

  “You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”

  “Never.”

  We both laughed and Sarah looked uncertain, but she did not flinch.

  Clean up only took a few ticks and we headed back to berthing. “Sarah, you lead. That way you can make sure you know the way,” I told her encouragingly.

  The trip was not a complicated path, but I was not sure how much attention she had paid when I first brought her aboard. Apparently, it was enough because she made straight to berthing and right into the proper quad. What I do not think she had counted on was Bev standing there in her ship-tee and shorts.

  Bev flashed her a friendly smile. “Hi! Fancy meeting you here.”

  “Oh, excuse me,” Sarah said. She stopped abruptly and tried backing out of the quad while looking down. With Pip and me right behind her, she ended up backing into both of us. There was a little traffic jam as she bumped into us and Sarah started looking around rather frantically.

  “Wait,” Bev said softly. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I startled you.”

  Sarah was still trying to keep her eyes anywhere but on Bev. I could not figure out what was wrong, but I backed up to give her room and tripped Pip. All three of us went crashing to the deck. Bev’s reflexes were the quickest. She pulled Sarah out of the pile and lifted her effortlessly up onto her bunk in less than a blink.

  Meanwhile Pip and I were busy getting untangled. I got to my feet first and stuck out a hand to help Pip up. “We’re fine. Nothing damaged here,” I said.

  Bev shot us a look over her shoulder. “Oh, you two buffoons. Is it a guy thing, or are you two just particularly clumsy?”

  “We had to get special training,” Pip told her.

  Even Sarah laughed a little at that.

  Bev turned her attention back to Sarah. “Are you okay?” she asked softly. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

  “I’m fine, thank you. I’m just sorry to have barged in on you like that.”

  “Like what?” Bev asked.

  Sarah still wouldn’t look at her but nodded her head a little. “You know. Like that.”

  Bev seemed confused and silently appealed to me and Pip for clarification. I was lost myself so I shrugged helplessly.

  “I’m sorry, Sarah, but I don’t know. Like what?” she asked ever so gently.

  Sarah motioned with her hand, pointing up and down then. “Like that. In your underwear,” she whispered.

  “Oh,” Bev said and I could see the light bulb glowing over her head. She turned back to us. “Gentlemen, could you excuse us for a while? I think Sarah and I need to have a little girl talk.”

  I looked over at Sarah, huddled up on my old bunk. “You okay with Beverly, Sarah?” I asked her softly.

  Bev gave me a funny expression when I asked, but Sarah said tentatively, “Yes, thank you.”

  “Come on, Pip. I feel like a sauna,” I told him.

  “Me, too,” he answered a bit too loudly, and we left them in the quad and headed for the gym.

  Neither of us spoke until we got down to the changing room. Pip was the first and asked, “What in the name of little fuzzy nuggets is going on here?”

  I plunked myself down on the bench. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

  “Start with how long has she been here, and just kind of fill in to the point where we played the game with the darberry pie,” he said seriously.

  I explained how we spent the day and mentioned Cookie’s observation that he thought she might have been beaten recently. After watching her all day, I had to agree with him. I also added my two cents of speculation that she probably had not been eating much. I finished up by explaining how I had been forcing food and liquid down her since she had arrived ship-side.

  When I finished Pip sat with his mouth half open. “Okay, how do we help her?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure, but she’s hurt, she’s scared, and she’s here. I think we need to give her some room and learn to trust us. Lois will take care of her.”

  “Ish? You know you’ve started talking about the imaginary crewman as if she were real, right?”

  “What? Oh, yeah. Well, of course, she’s not real, but you can’t tell me that the Lois doesn’t have some of the best people in the galaxy as crew. And that includes everyone right up to and including the captain.”

  “Yeah, you’re right, but that doesn’t mean we have ghosts!”

  “Not ghosts, Pip, spirit. We take care of our own.”

  “Well, of course. We’re shipmates.”

  “Exactly, and now she’s one of us, so we need to take care of her.”

  “Okay, I agree. But that still leaves me with my original question. What do we do? How can we help her?”

  “Trust Lois. She’ll sort it out. We just need to keep our eyes open and be ready to help when the time comes.”

  “You do know that sounds like your brain has lost a data coupling somewhere, right?”

  “Yeah. I know what it sounds like. But I like the feeling.”

  We stood there without saying anything for a few more ticks. “How long before we can go back do you think?” Pip asked.

  “I think it’s been long enough for us to go and get a status report. We’re going to have to rack out soon. You’ve got the duty tomorrow and I have to start my new job.”

  We went back to the berthing area and found everything quiet. Sarah was rolled up in the blankets and appeared to be sound asleep. Bev was awake and guarding her. She backed us out of the quad and over to the berthing area’s table. When we got out where the light was brighter, I could see that her eyes were all red and puffy.

  “Beverly?” I asked. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. We had a chat about the ship-tee and boxers. I think she understands now and seeing other people wandering about has helped. Sarah has some issues that will take some time to sort out. She shared them with me a bit, but I don’t want to speak for her. It’s her choice if she wants to say anything. I’ll warn you, though, the story is horrific.”

  Pip sighed. “Anything we can do?”

  Bev shook her head. “Give her room. You’re both good-hearted guys even if you’re both blockheads,” she said with a grin. “Just treat her like a shipmate and don’t make a big deal if she’s a little further off balance than a normal greenie. We’re heading out tomorrow and the sooner the better. It will be good for her to get into a routine.”

  Pip asked Bev, “So? Now what?”

  “She’s exhausted. We had a little talk and I told her that I’d watch out for her while she slept. She rolled into the blankets and went out like a light. Tomorrow’s another day. I suggest that you guys call it a night, as well. I’ll sit up for a bit in case she wakes up.”

  “Is it going to be okay for me to sleep in the same quad?” Pip asked.

  Bev considered the question for a few heartbeats and I thought she might say no, but finally she sighed and said, “Well, bunkie. That’s the way we sleep here, isn’t it? I think it might be good for her to see how things work. Just keep it down tonight so she can sleep, okay?”

  “No problem with that,” Pip said. “I’m gonna get ready for bed. See you tomorrow, Ish.” He headed into the san.

  Bev turned to me and lowered her voice further. “You did good today, Ish. She trusts you, and I don’t think she trusts easily right now.”

  “I didn’t do anything special. Just fed her and showed her around the ship.”

  “You have no idea how far a simple friendly gesture can go, do you?”

  “Well, she’s one of us now. We have to take care of her, don’t we?”

  Bev smiled at m
e. “You’re a good man, Ishmael Horatio Wang. In Sarah’s world, there haven’t been many of those.”

  “I figured. Is she badly bruised?”

  Bev shot me a sharp look. “What do you mean?”

  “I was with her all afternoon in the galley, Bev. I’m stupid, but I’m not blind. She’s got bruises on the left side of her face that she tries to hide behind her hair that she pulls forward. She might have a cracked rib on the right, and she’s favoring her left arm. If I had to guess, I’d say she hasn’t had a decent meal in about three days. Plus, she’s so dehydrated that even though I poured three liters of water and coffee in her over the course of the afternoon, she hasn’t even hinted about needing to use the head. When I first met her, she flinched when I extended my hand to shake, and you picked her up off the deck and lifted her into her bunk like she weighed nothing at all. I know you’re strong, but she can’t weigh more than fifty kilos.”

  Bev just stared at me. “Is that all?”

  I shook my head. “She’s a hard worker and a good person. She has calluses on her palms and fingers from some kind of rough work, and she has a grip that could bend steel pipes. She’s spent a lot of time out of doors based on the UV damage to her hair and skin, and I don’t think she’s used to being around people. She appears old enough to be my mother, but I doubt that she’s got more than ten stanyers over me.”

  “Anything else?” she asked with a half grin.

  “Isn’t that enough?”

  Bev stared at me for a long tick. “Yup, that’s plenty. How much have you told Pip?”

  “Just a bit about what I figured out, but I won’t say anymore. Like you said, it’s her story to share. He’ll find out for himself if she wants to say anything.”

  She looked at me hard, in a way I think I might have liked except that it scared me so much. It left me feeling both weak and strong at the same time. Then she sighed. “You’re a good man, Ish.”

  “I’m a tired man, Bev. See you tomorrow.”